Applicators for applying liquid or foam chemical products to hair are known. One such applicator, shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,305, receives a liquid or foam product from a container of the product and applies the product to hair for treating or coloring the hair. The applicator includes a body portion with a cavity that receives the product from the container and a comb-like portion that distributes the product on the hair. The comb is designed to apply the product to the hair in parallel rows to result in a streaked pattern on the hair.
A problem with known applicators, particularly of the type shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,305, is control of the fluid or foam coloring product. If dispensing the product is not properly controlled, the user, whether professional or amateur, might inadvertently allow the product to contact portions of the hair not intended to be colored. It is common for an inexperienced user to allow hair colorant to contact undesired parts of hair, resulting in unwanted splotches of colored hair, instead of the desired clean, professional appearance. One cause of this is the inability of the applicator device to restrict flow of fluid or foam to the desired parts of the applicator.
Applicant has discovered that many less-experienced users of applicators for hair-colorants allow the colorants to accumulate in unintended locations on the applicator. Such accumulated product often inadvertently contacts the hair at unintended locations resulting in an undesired pattern. With reference to FIG. 1, for example, a known applicator 2 such as that shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,305 comprises a body portion 4 and a comb portion 6. The body portion 4 forms a cavity 8 that is supplied with a colorant product 12 from a container 30 attached to an inlet connector 10. The colorant 12 flows into the cavity 8 through the inlet connector 10 and then onto hair 14 through openings in the body portion 4 between adjacent teeth in the comb portion 6. In use, the user pulls the applicator along and through hair 14 as illustrated in FIG. 1 in the direction of the arrow. Thus, the user typically holds the hair 14 in one hand and pulls the applicator with the other hand away from the scalp through hair engaged in the comb portion. The relative motion of the hair with respect to the applicator is from right to left in the view of FIG. 1.
Applicant has found that the device shown in FIG. 1 allows colorant to flow out of the cavity 8 and accumulate on the side of the comb portion downstream with respect to the movement of the hair through the comb portion. The accumulation of colorant is illustrated at 16 in FIG. 1 and presents the problem illustrated in FIG. 2. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the accumulated colorant 16 can inadvertently be deposited on the opposite side of a part 18 in hair 14. This inadvertent deposit often results in a “splotch” of color that detracts from the desired clean application of color highlight.